Officers on Wednesday morning discovered a man, listed as a registered sex offender and accused of harassing a Gainesville woman, hiding under a blanket in a closet at the woman's home.
Gainesville police arrested Olester Bryant Jr., 50, of Alachua on charges of aggravated stalking and burglary, according to an arrest report.
The woman told police she met Bryant about three months ago and since then he has pursued a relationship with her, even though she told him she didn't want to be with him and he couldn't live at her home, the report stated.
Bryant allegedly threatened the woman, saying he would shoot her and damage her car. On Monday, she said he came to her home on Northeast Seventh Street and tried to break her vehicle's windshield.
Officers were contacted and told Bryant to leave and not come back. But later Monday he returned and said he would "shoot her so she can hurt like he hurt," could "get in her house one way or the other" and could do something to her before officers arrived, according to police.
Police checked the home late Tuesday and again early Wednesday to escort the woman inside. As officers checked the home, they discovered Bryant in the closet.
Bryant told police he and the woman were together, that he entered the home through an unlocked door and that he usually sleeps in the closet when he stays there.
But, according to the police report, a key to the home was found in the man's clothing.
The woman denied giving Bryant a key and said he must have a made a copy at some point when he took her keys.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement lists Bryant as a sex offender based on a sexual battery case in 1987. In 2005, he was convicted in Alachua County of failing to comply with his sex offender registration.
Bryant was in custody at the Alachua County jail Wednesday afternoon. A $150,000 bond had been set for his release, according to jail records.
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